Columnist David McKay Wilson talks about changes in the plan for Westchester County Airport since George Latimer took over as county executive. FiOS Westchester has discovered groundwater contamination at the county airport, with officials suspecting it was caused by chemicals used in firefighting foam decades ago. Preliminary results from one monitoring well, located near a former Air National Guard septic field, found contaminants in concentrations that were 14 times the limit set by the US Environmental Protection Agency health advisory. The airport borders the Kensico Reservoir, which provides drinking water to New York City and some Westchester residents. Most residents in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut, get their water from reservoirs in town managed by Aquarion Water Co., although some rely on private wells. Tests of the Kensico Reservoir have found no evidence that the contamination has seeped into the water supply, a state official said. “We had a few high hits on some wells,” said Vincent Kopicki, the county’s commissioner of public works and transportation, at the Jan. 24 meeting of the county Airport Advisory Board. The contamination was detected at a well just north of the airport in July 2017, which led to testing of wells across the airport property. Samples taken in November found contamination at the airport, with the public notified of the findings at the Jan. 24 meeting of the Westchester Airport Advisory Board. Investigators want to determine which direction the contamination is flowing — to the west toward the Kensico Reservoir, or to the southeast, toward public wells in Greenwich. The EPA sets safe drinking water standards of 70 parts per trillion….

What is the Commission proposing and why?
This will guarantee that tap water is safe for drinking throughout the EU.
2) A reduced risk for Member States and citizens.
The Commission has worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to revise the list of standards (parameters) that define safe drinking water.
How will consumers benefit from this proposal?
The revised rules will improve access to water and water quality as well as further reduce risks to health, by improving water treatment and quality monitoring.
It contains an obligation for Member States to improve access to safe drinking water for all and to ensure access to water especially for vulnerable and marginalised groups.
The proposal to revise the Drinking Water Directive reflects this principle with a new provision that requires Member States to improve access to water for all and ensure access to those belonging to vulnerable and marginalised groups.
Better access to and quality of drinking water, as well as increased transparency requirements obviously entail additional but moderate costs.
However, these will be offset by the positive health benefits for citizens and the possibility for Member States to subsidise a service of public interest, as well as the money saved through lower consumption of bottled water.

Questions and Answers on the revision of the Drinking Water Directive. Why is the Commission revising the Drinking Water Directive? The European Commission wants to continue to ensure the provision of high-quality drinking water in light of the latest scientific advice, and to help consumers access this water and find reliable information about its supply. Safe drinking water is essential for public health and well-being, and water contamination or shortages can have serious social and economic costs. The proposal is also a response to the successful European Citizens’ Initiative, ‘Right2Water’, which received the support of 1.6 million Europeans. What is the Commission proposing and why? There are four main new elements: 1) Improved standards for the safety of water. The list of standards will be updated and extended in line with the latest scientific knowledge and based on recommendations by the World Health Organisation. This will guarantee that tap water is safe for drinking throughout the EU. 2) A reduced risk for Member States and citizens. By applying a risk-based water safety assessment in the entire EU, authorities will be able to identify possible risks to water sources already at distribution level. It adds an additional layer of protection and at the same time better protects supply sources in the long term. 3) Obligation to improve access to water. People without or with limited access to water will benefit. Overall consumption of tap water – a cheap, safe and environmentally-friendly option – should increase. This will help consumers save money, and it is good for the environment, helping to reduce plastic waste entering our rivers and seas and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. 4) Increased transparency, including on water services. Thanks to new transparency rules consumers will get information online, in a user-friendly way, about the availability of water services in their local area. Empowered consumers are better placed to request good quality services at a fair price. In parallel, the Commission accelerated work on standardisation to ensure that construction products in the water sector across the EU’s internal market, such as pipes and tanks, do not pollute drinking water. What are the new standards to indicate the safety of water? The Commission has worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to revise the list of standards (parameters) that define safe drinking water. The new list includes 18 new or revised parameters to better protect against: pathogenic bacteria and viruses; naturally occurring but harmful substances like uranium or microcystins; emerging contaminants from industry like perfluorinated compounds; disinfection by-products or distribution impurities like chlorate, haloacetic acids, or bisphenol A. How will consumers benefit from this proposal? The revised rules will improve access to water and water quality as well as further reduce risks to health, by improving water treatment and quality monitoring. According to estimatesthe new measures would reduce potential health risks associated with drinking water from about 4% to below 1%. More transparency on water supply can compel providers to improve resource-efficiency. Consumers will have online access to information on precious nutrients present in their tap water, such…

Once the state approves those plans, the project to extend City of Manteca water lines to the Nile Avenue campus in rural south Manteca can move forward.
Nile Garden switched to bottled water four years ago when tests showed that the water being pumped from a well no longer met newer federal standards for arsenic.
The previous standard was 50 parts per billion in terms of volume.
It has now been reduced to 10 parts per billion.
Arsenic occurs naturally.
Experts have said it would take arsenic levels “about 100 times” higher than what they are now to cause sickness.
Measure G work connected with modernization of existing classrooms and addressing health and safety needs has already been addressed.
Nile Garden will also have a multipurpose room added to address existing deficiencies and to serve growth.
Both campuses will have new classroom wings that are expected to contain 8 classrooms each and accommodate more than 200 additional students at each campus.
There are no nearby fire hydrants currently at the rural campus.

Once the state approves those plans, the project to extend City of Manteca water lines to the Nile Avenue campus in rural south Manteca can move forward.
Nile Garden switched to bottled water four years ago when tests showed that the water being pumped from a well no longer met newer federal standards for arsenic.
The previous standard was 50 parts per billion in terms of volume.
It has now been reduced to 10 parts per billion.
Arsenic occurs naturally.
Experts have said it would take arsenic levels “about 100 times” higher than what they are now to cause sickness.
Measure G work connected with modernization of existing classrooms and addressing health and safety needs has already been addressed.
Nile Garden will also have a multipurpose room added to address existing deficiencies and to serve growth.
Both campuses will have new classroom wings that are expected to contain 8 classrooms each and accommodate more than 200 additional students at each campus.
There are no nearby fire hydrants currently at the rural campus.

Manawatū’s mayor and Horizons Regional Council are stepping up pressure on the Government to deal more effectively with fallout from the Ohakea airbase water contamination saga. Manawatū mayor Helen Worboys has visited residents around the base because of community concerns about the quality of information being provided. Some had talked about suffering headaches and illness, she said. “What I am hearing from our affected community members is that the information they are being provided with is inconsistent and unclear,” she said. READ MORE: * Lawyers talk with landowners at Ohakea and Woodbourne about water contamination * Test results show Ohakea and Woodbourne drinking water contaminated from airbase toxic runoff * Chemical risk bubbles over for Ohakea’s neighbours Legal action could result from the saga, with Horizons officially investigating the incident. The Defence Force stopped using a specific firefighting foam in 2002 after concerns were raised about two chemicals, PFOS and PFOA. They got initial results back about possible contamination of water in 2015, but did not inform the Government until August. The Ministry for the Environment has since done testing at Ohakea, and found 19 properties near the base had the toxic foam contaminants on the…

Ming-Kuo Lee, a hydrology professor from Auburn, told a crowd of about 150 area residents Tuesday night that four of 13 groundwater wells sampled in that area showed levels of radon in excess of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommendations for drinking water.
The EPA says that radon exposure can cause cancers to develop in the lungs if inhaled or internal organs if consumed in drinking water.
Lee said the municipal water tested within EPA safety thresholds for heavy metals, trace elements, volatile organic compounds and other substances of concern.
"The recommendation we made is that, if financially possible, [Fruithurst residents] should switch to the safe, city municipal water as soon as possible."
Radon is usually a gas, but can be present in drinking water taken directly from underground sources, according to an EPA fact sheet.
Other substances found In addition to the radon, researchers found a number of other chemicals of concern in groundwater and soil samples from the area, including heavy metals and volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.
A ProBlend rubber production facility operated in Fruithurst from 1987 until 2015.
Testing continues Christy Hiett, principal of Fruithurst Elementary School, said she began organizing the testing after four boys under the age of 18 were diagnosed with leukemia in the span of two years.
The group has also purchased reverse-osmosis water filtration systems for households that are unable to connect to the municipal water system.
"We need to get more soil samples near the facility to find the level of distribution for both heavy metals and some organic compounds."

Vox Sentences is your daily digest for what’s happening in the world, curated by Ella Nilsen.
Sign up for the Vox Sentences newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday, or view the Vox Sentences archive for past editions.
One person is dead after a train carrying GOP lawmakers collided with a garbage truck in Virginia; Cape Town is dramatically rationing its water amid a severe drought.
We’re fine, but our train hit a garbage truck.
pic.twitter.com/0I9jOwHTmb — Rep. Greg Walden (@repgregwalden) January 31, 2018 An Amtrak train carrying members of the House and Senate to an annual GOP retreat accidentally hit a garbage truck on Wednesday afternoon, causing at least one fatality and other injuries.
[Rachael Bade via Twitter] Describing the impact of the crash, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) told reporters that it looked like the truck had been “cut in half.” [Washington Post / Martine Powers, Faiz Siddiqui, Ed O’Keefe, and Hawes Spencer] Former combat medic Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) tended to crash victims at the scene.
The GOP retreat will continue, although many lawmakers said they were shaken up by the incident.
[USA Today / Jessica Estepa and Michael Collins] Cape Town is trying to ration what little water it has left South Africa is experiencing a severe drought that’s pushing water levels in Cape Town to their breaking point, causing dramatic rationing.
If the water stops flowing through the taps, the city will have to set up ration sites where people can stand in line to get water each day.
Some people are criticizing the city government for not doing more to tap groundwater sources to mitigate the drought.

LEE — A handful of properties around the Lee Traffic Circle contaminated by a gasoline additive could soon get access to cleaner water.
The state Department of Environmental Services is working with Durham, Lee and the University of New Hampshire to extend water lines to the affected properties, which currently use treatment systems to remove the additive MtBE.
“The objective of the Lee Traffic Circle water line extension project is to solve a MtBE drinking water well contamination problem while providing a net benefit … to Durham, Lee and UNH,” said Gary Lynn, administrator of the state MtBE Remediation Bureau.
The state now requires gas tanks and piping to be double walled to catch any leaks.
The remediation project consists of extending a well from the town of Durham’s well in Lee near Five Corners to the traffic circle.
Most of the line, which runs about 1.5 miles, will follow the state right of way alongside Route 4.
The state also will contribute $1 million toward the $19 million UNH water treatment plant replacement project.
The water reaching the Lee circle would be the same used by UNH and the roughly 1,400 Durham water customers.
The UNH water plant money comes from a separate pot funded from a $236 million judgment against Exxon Mobil.
Lynn said money from the two sources has been used for numerous clean water projects around the state.

This conclusion suggests the federal government may be neglecting its best option for ending advisories: supporting efforts to train operators of First Nations water systems.
The federal government has promised to eliminate all drinking-water advisories, which Health Canada recommends be issued when drinking water is deemed unsafe.
"If your operator’s not particularly well trained, or not trained to the level where they understand all the elements of their system, you’re more likely to have trouble," Dr. McBean said.
ISC’s proposed solution for ending 32 advisories is to build a new water-treatment plant.
The training at that time was so increased that I could have gone to training every week."
More than two-thirds of those operating ISC-funded systems were certified in 2016.
Natuashish, a remote reserve in Labrador, offers an example of how unqualified operators can complicate efforts to provide safe drinking water.
ISC’s protocols state that water-systems operators must meet the certification requirements of the province in which they work.
The lack of regulations means First Nations operators may not receive sufficient time or funding from their employers to get and maintain their certifications, Mr. Gagnon added.
Despite the federal government’s promised surge in funding to end drinking-water advisories, First Nations operators and the organizations hoping to train them say they continue to operate in a climate of austerity.